CVD in women projected to hit 60% by 2050: 5 notes

Six in 10 women are projected to have at least one type of cardiovascular disease by 2050, a new American Heart Association report found.

The “Forecasting the Burden of Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke in the United States Through 2050 in Women” was published in Circulation on Feb. 25.

“More than 62 million women in the U.S. are living with some type of cardiovascular disease and that comes with a price tag of at least $200 billion, annually,” Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, a professor of medicine and public health and the co-director of the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in an AHA news release.

Here are five things to know:

1. The number of women living with cardiovascular disease is expected to rise sharply, driven by increased rates of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. In 2020, the association projected that 50% of women could have heart disease by 2050; that projection has risen to 60%.

2. Nearly one-third of women ages 22-44 are expected to have a cardiovascular disease other than high blood pressure by 2050, up from less than 25% today.

3. Nearly 32% of girls ages 2-19 are projected to have obesity by 2050.

4. The AHA report predicts there will be an increase in all types of cardiovascular disease in women, including heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke. 

5. The increase of cardiovascular disease in women and girls is projected to be most prevalent among American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic or multiracial populations.